Why most dance acts don’t get paid royalties for radio, clubs or festivals

Dance music makes up about 15% of BBC Radio 1’s output, yet only 50% of the songwriters that create it receive any royalties for those plays, according to the songwriters’ collection society PRS. This is because the information PRS holds for the tracks is incomplete.

Not only do writers of this genre appear to be less likely to register their songs correctly than most other genres – some of them aren’t even aware that they need to join PRS to receive these royalties.

The problems with distributing royalties for dance music does not stop with radio plays – an even bigger problem is distribution of payments for clubs and festivals. PRS says that only 35% of setlists were completed at the 2011 Creamfields festival – and a paltry 15% at Glade. In comparison, 90% of the acts performing at the predominantly guitar-based Reading completed their setlists.